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Friday, March 11, 2016

Pats - Warriors Game Day Preview

The Regina Pats (32-27-3-5) kick off the biggest weekend of the regular season tonight at the Brandt Centre when they host the first half of a home and home with the Moose Jaw Warriors (34-25-7-1).Tonight is the seventh of eight meetings between the two clubs with the Pats holding a 2-2-1-1 record in the season series. Puck drop is at 7:00 with the pre-game at 6:35 on 620 CKRM.

Team
Comparison

Regina

Moose Jaw

Record

32-27-3-5

34-25-7-1

Goals
For/Against

223/238 (-15)

235/221 (+14)

Powerplay

18.5% (52/281)

23.0% (59/257)

Penalty
Kill

77.7% (226/291)

79.8% (182/228)

Team
Save Percentage

0.902

0.912

Leading
Scorer

Adam Brooks
(35-74-109)

Dryden Hunt
(54-56-110)

Leading
Scorer (Defence)

Connor Hobbs (18-21-39)

Marc McNulty
(10-37-47)

Scoring by Period (1st-2nd-3rd-OT)

75-61-77-7

52-86-92-4

Average
Age

17.82 yrs

17.86 yrs

The Lead Up

The Pats got a big road win on Wednesday night in Swift Current, 5-2 over the Broncos. Riley Woods scored twice on the powerplay and Jordan Hollett made 36 saves on 38 shots for his 8th win of the season in goal. The Pats penalty kill went 8 for 9 with a shorthanded goal.

The Warriors were last in action on Monday when they visited the Broncos as well. Dryden Hunt had two goals and an assist to lead Moose Jaw back from down 4-2 in the third to a 6-4 victory. Zach Sawchenko turned aside 31 of 35 shots faced in the victory.

The Matchup

The Pats and Warriors have met 6 times previously this season with the last one coming back on December 19th. The Past hold a 2-2-1-1 record in the first six games of the season series. The Warriors have outscored the Pats 21-15 in those games. Four of the six have gone to overtime or a shootout with the Pats winning twice in OT and losing once in overtime and once in a shootout. Adam Brooks leads the way with a goal and 7 points against the Warriors while former Pat Dryden Hunt has 5 goals and 8 points for Moose Jaw. The Pats enter the day four points back of the Warriors for third in the East Division while Moose jaw is four points back of Prince Albert for second place. Each team has six games remaining on their regular season schedules.

Brooks Vs Hunt

The Western Hockey League’s top two scorers will meet tonight in the Pats Adam Brooks and the Warriors Dryden Hunt. Hunt holds a slim, one point lead over Brooks in the scoring race with 110 points to 109. The former teammates are having fantastic seasons, Brooks is second in the WHL with 74 assists while Hunt leads all skaters with 55 goals. Brooks saw his WHL leading 18 game point streak come to an end on Wednesday. He had 8 goals and 38 points in that stretch. Hunt has points in 5 straight with 5 goals and 6 assists recorded.

Hollett Solid Wednesday

Pats goaltender Jordan Hollett made his first start since February 19th on Wednesday in Swift Current and turned aside 36 of 38 shots faced for the win. Hollett got the nod after starter Tyler Brown missed the game because of an illness. The 36 saves were the third most in a game on the season for Hollett, he made 41 stops in an OT loss to Prince Albert in November and 40 saves in a 2-1 OT win in Brandon in early December.

Roster Gets Bigger

With Tyler Brown getting sick this week the Pats called up goaltender Max Paddock to back up Jordan Hollett on Wednesday. Paddock is the nephem of Pats Head Coach and GM John Paddock. Max in 18 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings Midget AAA had a 2.82 G.A.A. and a .908 save percentage. Paddock was a 10th round pick of the Pats in the 2015 Bantam Draft. The Pats also recalled forwards Jake Elmer and Erik Gardiner this week. Elmer, a 6th round pick in 2013, spent 17 games in Regina to start the year and then was sent down to the Grande Prairie Storm of the AJHL where he had a goal and 3 assists in 20 games, the Storm missed the playoffs this year. Gardiner, the Pats second round pick in 2014, led the SMAAAHL in scoring with 59 points in 43 games with the Prince Albert Mintos, 21 of those goals. The Mintos lost out to Tisdale in round one of the post season.